United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Saturday witnessed the conditions of tens of thousands of displaced Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka as he appealed to a triumphant government to 'heal the wounds' left by three decades of ethnic conflict. The Secretary General visited the camps in Vavuniya district today, where more than 300,000 people are staying, after escaping from the battle lines between government forces and Tamil Tigers.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Ajay Chhibber of India as United Nations Development Programme's assistant secretary-general, assistant administrator and director of its Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.Chhibber replaced Hafiz Pasha, who finished his assignment in December last year.
United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-moon "very much" hopes that Narendra Modi attends the UN General Assembly in New York later this year and particularly participate in the climate change summit, a top official of the world body said on Tuesday.
Welcoming the $1.1 trillion package committed by the world leaders at the G-20 Summit in London, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said the developing and poor countries must get the "crucial" funds to avert a human development crisis.
The Paris climate change agreement is a victory for climate justice, India has said.
"I made clear to President (Mahinda) Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka," Ban told media-persons I New York, referring to a conversation he had with Sri Lankan President on Thursday.
US President Barack Obama will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon next week in Washington to discuss a host of issues, including the global economic crisis, Sudan conflict and situation in Afghanistan and West Asia
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised the United Nations that his forces would protect Tamil civilians as it pushes ahead with its offensive to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Rajapaksa gave this assurance over telephone to UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, as his forces overran the last base of the sea Tigers near Mulaittivu, cutting off all their escape routes.
India is expected to share details of the Mumbai terror attacks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday when he meets External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and urge him to press Pakistan to cooperate.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said getting a binding agreement sealed on climate change was among his top priorities for the year after the Copenhagen conference that marked "an important step forward".
United Nations chief Ban Ki Moon on Friday came out strongly in support of the Nobel Peace Prize for United States President Barack Obama and termed the Norwegian Committee's decision 'a very wise' one. "The Nobel Peace Committee has made their decision, and this should be respected, and I wholeheartedly support it," he told journalists. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, "He has done nothing for peace in Afghanistan. We condemn the award."
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said that the country has taken a 'principled' stand on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and there is no scope for change in its position unless a number of other developments take place to address the concerns.This comes after a high-level conference on disarmament in the United Nations on Thursday, addressed by UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon, asked India and eight other countries to ratify the agreement.
Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has been selected as a member of the United Nations' high-level panel on global sustainability.
The former UN refugee chief takes over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1.
Talking about helping countries meet the Millennium Development Goals, he said, "This is not charity. It is solidarity." In an interconnected world, it is also an expression of enlightened self-interest since we are all in this together.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon has criticised Zimbabwe's presidential run off election, in which President Robert Mugabe won another term, saying the outcome does not reflect the true and genuine will of the people nor produce a legitimate result.The observers, Ban said, confirmed that conditions were not in place for a free and fair election and the process was deeply flawed.
The US asked the Sri Lankan government to "take advantage" of the opportunity and accept an offer of a UN team that is probing alleged human rights abuses in the final months of the war with the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam. The UN on Tuesday announced that Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had set up a three-member panel to look into alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
Myanmar has agreed to allow all aid workers to participate in relief efforts for cyclone survivors, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said after meeting leader Than Shwe in Naypyidaw on Friday.
Acting on his pledge to achieve continuity with change, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named four new senior officials to his Cabinet while retaining a dozen others.
The director was seen in a relaxed mood after a 45-minute meeting over the Sudan's Darfur conflict, with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations Headquarters.
With countries like the US restricting hiring of foreign workers on H-1B work visas, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday opposed imposition of restrictions on international migration.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent his Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar, a veteran Indian diplomat, to Colombo to speak with the government there about the humanitarian situation in war zones of Sri Lanka's north and to express the world body's concern over the matter.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has asked all sides to refrain from any actions or statement that could endanger peace and incite violence in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia.
India handed over a letter to the president of the Security Council, formally withdrawing Tharoor's candidature, officials said.
The rich world continues to give lectures on energy conservation. But what is it doing itself?
The 20-page report on the island nation covering the period from November 2006 to September 2007, notes that 'both parties have failed to cease the abduction, recruitment and use of children.'
India on Friday said that the United Nations should ensure that Pakistan fulfills its commitment to end the terrorism emanating from its soil.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he had apprised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday about the details of the Mumbai attacks, which were carried out by elements based in Pakistan. "I requested the UN Secretary General to look into those aspects and ensure that Pak fully implements its own commitments," he said.
The three-member international commission that the United Nations plans to appoint to probe the assassination of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will be a fact-finding panel and will not carry out any criminal investigation. In a letter to the Security Council released on Thursday, Secretary-General Ban ki Moon said the life of the commission will be of six months. "You will note that the commission's mandate would be of a limited duration (a maximum of six months).
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit India next week to attend a four-day summit on sustainable development, after visiting Pakistan, where he is expected to discuss terrorism among other issues.His programme in New Delhi is not yet known but his visit is mainly to attend the Sustainable Development Summit beginning on February 4.Prior to going to Delhi, he will pay an official visit to Pakistan, where he is expected to discuss the situation in the region.
The UN says that if permission is granted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and if a lull in fighting permits, the convoy will cross the frontline on Thursday noon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday vowed to work towards a world free of weapons of mass destruction noting that there is a 'new window of opportunity for disarmament and non-proliferation.'
In a sharp criticism of the US$ 4.2 billion United Nations budget presented by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for 2008-09, India has slammed its emphasis only on peace, security and human rights rather than on resolving the basic causes of conflicts including lack of development and socio-economic inequities. Describing it as "technically inadequate and politically flawed," India's Ambassador to the UN Nirupam Sen bluntly told Ban that it needs to be fundamentally revised.
The council's appeal came in a presidential statement at the end of a day-long discussion on crimes against women.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win, in a letter sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday, confirmed his nation had agreed to the visit by Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the S-G's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. The announcement comes as Ibrahim Gambari, UN's Special Envoy for Myanmar, continued his consultations with the troubled country's neighbours and regional partners ahead of a planned return trip to Myanmar next month.
There are now one billion hungry people on the globe, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said recently.
The theme for this year parliamentary hearing is to chart out methods of dealing with the global economic crisis.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said he was encouraged by the commitment of India and Pakistan to continue their dialogue process, but ruled out withdrawal of its observer mission in both countries.
The international body is rushing food and assistance amounting to $1 million
Three years back they were rivals for the same job. Today, they were shaking hands in a meeting which, at least on surface, looked quite warm. United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki Moon shook hands with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor in UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
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